Shadow of the Beast Longplay (PC Engine) [60 FPS]

[@krux02]

I don't know what it really is that fascinates me of Shadow of the Beast. It's not nostalgia, because I never had shadow of the Beast or an Amiga (or PC Engine in this case), but I really like the way this game make me feel. I feeling no other game creates. Sadly this version misses the small narrative parts that were shown in the Amiga version during loading screens. I think they did some good things to the atmosphere. But I think the animated scenes make up for it. Music is also nice here.

[@daveruda]

Agreed. Something disturbing mysterious and comforting at the same time.

[@mcclx4183]

It’s the music

[@Mario_N64]

It's that early 90s New Age vibe, particularly the music.

[@Gigas0101]

I get how you feel, krux.

[@kwkfortythree39]

The music creates a fascinating atmosphere

[@EarlyGene]

The main character's human face at the beginning and end of this game is the exact same face that you see at the end of Shadow of the Beast 3.

[@Cimone90]

That game is awesome

[@RetroDemoScene]

Classic and quite a good conversion from the big selling original Amiga classic. Worth watching for the audio alone. Thanks for sharing.

[@Saxdude26]

I look at the prospect of everything at play with Shadow of the Beast, the first time I played it as a teenager, and the gritty PS4 re-imagining that held nothing back on fleshing out everything limited in its original 16-bit iterations... and yet, the second the plains music kicks in on the PC Engine version, there's a strange wave of calm that I feel. I don't know what it is, I feel like this game should absolutely scare and chill me to my core, and yet I just feel captivated by just how much it did for its time. A product of its time, but it's one of a kind.

[@raysullivan6168]

Well, the ending is more than a congratulations screen, THAT and I really like the music, especially the forest theme!]:3

[@guilhermencb]

Everything in this game is so random. You're inside a tree with "Home" engraved on it, but there's no clue who call it Home, there's a bunch of bizarre creatures charging at you, a a giant skeleton ship going back and forth for no reason, giant floating eyes messing around for no reason, flamethrowers hanging from the ceiling, a lever (?!) attached to a wall (lol), and all this nightmare ends when you climb up a well, then you run right and the freak show gets even worse. Ah there is castle, there is a blaster and a jet pack waiting for you hahahaha wtf I just watched (yes I played that game on sega genesis 30 years ago or so).

[@CloudStrifeZX]

i agree, everything is so random that it looks like a fever dream or some lunatic nightmare oh and you forgot to mention the showdown with the giant toe!!!!

[@yosefyonin6824]

everying put together creats ushakable feelings witnessing something completely alien and imcomprehancible that just provokes your thoughts and makes you crave to see more just so you can understand what's happening in there. coupled with the fantstic atmosphere and music. that's what a video games as an arty form look like.

[@guilhermencb]

@@yosefyonin6824 too bad the sequels weren't as alien as this one.

[@dyscotopia]

So now we know what Rockstar's version of Shadow of the Beast would look like. I personally prefer it to the Genesis port. Even with the added parallax it lacks the atmosphere somehow. The music is captured perfectly, and the added /substituted animation is a nice touch here.

[@miltonsilva6371]

Shadow of the Beast on PC Engine??!!" THE the CBM AMIGA is the REAL DEAL, forget the ATARI ST "version"

[@Emulous79]

LOL at the intro roar :)

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

It's the outro video where Aabron grins and he's missing a tooth that gets me 😃

[@ThePhobos100]

This game was ludicrously hard.

[@Octamed]

Amiga version was, this one looks easier (uncapped max health, quick punches with no timing needed). That said I completed the Amiga version :)

[@entity8019]

Try SotB 2 then. Even with the cheat mode on, you need to do things in a super-precise order. It's fucking nuts. One tiny mistake like letting a coin fade away for example is but one of many things that make the game unwinnable.

[@ThePhobos100]

@@entity8019 I first played it on the sega that was still ludicrous hard. One think I like about it was the animation, kind of fantasy mixed with horror.

[@racccongenocide]

woah, it shows aarbron as he look in beast 3

[@Emulous79]

11:41 The Number of the Beast!

[@filipesantos9692]

xD

[@neros77]

Music is fantastic!

[@cakestalker]

Pretty nice port of the Amiga original, and the Audio CD-quality composition really stays true to the samples\instruments and style of the original Amiga version. Sometimes they may screw things up even with CD audio available by bad remixed\arranaged music by using wrong instruments etc, but that is clearly NOT the case here :)

[@evamariavargasfarinas4240]

Amiga is the best version

[@johneygd]

Am amezed about those multi scrolling & paralax scrolling backgrounds in this version of SOTB considering the hardware limitations. Also those anime cutscenes and those 2 r-type gameplay style levels are cool .

[@TurboXray]

The author/coder said he would have done even more parallax, had he had the time for it. He regrets not doing parallax in the underground parts.

[@johneygd]

@@TurboXrayiwow that’s pretty interestong to note; BUT as the old saying says. ‘We have to see to believe it’ 🙁 maybe a homebrewer could add multi scrolling backgrounds in those underground levels, BUT am stuck with 1 question in wiki doesn’t ansure me, Does the CD rom addon for the pc engine added extra background layers to the stock pc engine or are those extra background layers just generated or simulated by the cpu??

[@TurboXray]

@@johneygd No, the CD addon for the PCE adds no additional hardware like that. It basically gives you THEE bare minimum; CD audio, CD storage, and a single ADPCM channel. But, it actually handicaps you too! The small amount of CDRAM for Super CD games (let alone CD 2.0 games) acts like a tiny little cart (2megs), and this really restricts what you can do memory wise. You also HAVE to stop CD music in order to load any game data; can't do both at the same time - so while you get an audio upgrade, that same audio upgrade makes loading in new data much slower (because of all the seek times - stop music, get data, start music, etc). So no, no additional processing capabilities, no video upgrades or such, and actually adds limitations that don't exist on CART/HuCard (where all rom is instantaneously accessible). The extra BG layers can be done a few different ways. In the above world in this game, it's just sprites. If you had more CD RAM memory, you could "dynamic animated tiles" to give even more flexibility in creating parallax - but it takes up more memory, and Super CD 3.0 CDRAM is pretty small already. Lords of Thunder uses the dynamic tiles along with a few sprites, but the patterns are very simply in order to fit in CDRAM memory. If you want to see the sprite method taken to an extreme, check out one my Bonk demos on my channel.

[@johneygd]

@@TurboXray well with this in mind,i can understand why nintendo didn’t added a CD drive to their N64 because that would,ve leaded to it’s own limitations such as not to load and refresh data instandly and it would,ve probably suffered from those same issues like the pc engine CD addon such as load times,not be able play CD audio and streaming data at the same time etc,,,yes the N64 is a different beast but with it’s limited amount of included memory such as 4KB for textures,you couldn’t swap textures in & out on the fly like with cartrides ,sure nintendo could,ve added much more memory and could,ve opted for a fast high speed CD drive to compansate for those problems,but that would,ve added to the cost of the console as what we have seen with other systems like the CD32,fm marty,sega saturn,3DO,pc fx etc,,, those CD systems were very expensive so nintendo probably took notice of this,knew the consequences of it and decided just to stick with cartrides also because cartrides were more robust and much harder to make replica’s of it.

[@inceptional]

Sounds better than the Genesis version, and looks like it maybe even plays better too.

[@selektivdevelopment]

Wow! The Amiga version should have had the animated cutscenes! Now I understand that the protagonist from the first episode is also the one from the third part! 😄 PS. I like the Amiga graphics and sound more. The mountains look far more... perforated. The global cataclysm was in the air - as much as the zeppelins. 😏

[@haakonstenseth]

In the 90's or exact in 1994 I bought a Amiga 500 and I copied games from other peoples, who had Amiga 500 back then and some of them was Shadow Of The Beast 1, 2 and 3 and other Amiga games that I did not had. When I bought me a new Pc in 2007 I downloaded Amiga Emulator for Pc with games and there was also SOTB 1, 2 and 3. I have never played SOTB on PC Engine or PS4 yet.

[@rogerwennstrom6677]

Cool version that seems a bit more playable than the original! Still, I do miss the parallax scrolling in the underground levels for example. The game overall feels a little flatter/simpler in the gfx. (lesser details in the background parallax on the outside stages, plus some weird details like that the home tree is now a small stump instead, and the final boss weapon isnt there?) Quite decent CD version of the music tracks, but sound effects sounds weaker and rougher.

[@rogerwennstrom6677]

Oh, and the body do seem a bit smoother animated, but it also means that the head looks a bit tacked on I think?

[@MarcGameplays]

I prefer Amiga version.

[@thomaskeller9743]

Super geil gespielt, 1000 Jahre geübt was ? :))

[@parallaxcraze958]

Not bad but this version has 2 big problems inherent to PC Engine's limitations: a lower horizontal resolution than some other versions (such as the Amiga original or the Mega Drive port) and a very noticeable lack of parallax scrollings. And since Shadow of the Beast relies a lot on its visual presentation, these flaws really hurt this PC Engine CD version. As you described, enemies seem to come slower which is certainly a way to compensate for the lower resolution so at least the gameplay isn't too much affected by this issue. There are other differences such as the fact that we don't see the outside of the castle or the last boss attack which has been replaced by simple boulders... Other than that, I like the music (which are taken from the earlier FM Towns version) and the animated cutscenes are a nice alternative to the still pictures. Overall it's still a good version.

[@cakestalker]

+Parallax Craze I agree, this version has some improvements of course, but also some limitations compared to the Amiga original. I am impressed however with how the CD music stays true to the Amiga original regarding composition and instruments, which sometimes get fucked up even remixed\arranged tracks even with CD audio available.

[@Exlee-yp7ue]

Dude is your hobby to go around dissing the pc engine.? I've seen you on other pc-engine videos and all you do is trash talk the pc-engine. First of all you must be blind because there is very clearly parallax in this game. Second of all the resolution does not affect the gameplay in any way imo. Have you even played. Even though the turbo didn't have a second layer in the hardware it was more than capable of doing based on the hardwares other strengths. Check out air zonk and spriggan 2 to name a couple. Idk what your problem is with the pc-engine but find another hobby dude.

[@parallaxcraze958]

+Exlee 3000 The 4th generation of video games is probably my favorite and the one I dig the most. Sorry if you feel bad that I point out some of the PC Engine flaws when I share stuff on KZbin but that's how it is. The PC Engine is not bad but I find it questionable in many ways. To think that it was retailed at the same price as the Mega Drive while lacking many standard features in comparison (no second controller port and no RGB natively) already speaks for itself but that's not all since the Mega Drive also has the edge in many other aspects: scrollings capabilities, sprites handling, sound... So, if you can't face it, that's your problem but no need to accuse people when they're doing what are legit comments. And yeah, Shadow of the Beast on PC Engine CD has a very noticeable lack of parallax scrollings (both during the outdoor and indoor sections), you're the blind one if you can't see the difference between the Amiga/Mega Drive versions and the PC Engine CD one. And I know that the PC Engine can do parallax scrollings despite lack of hardware support for it but there are still some limitations and many games suffer from this: Street Fighter II, Forgotten Worlds, Zero Wing, Hellfire, Dynastic Hero, etc. etc. not to mention the PC Engine games with messed parallax such as Ys III or Ninja Gaiden. But despite its flaws and questionable market positioning, I still have a PC Engine (a Duo-R) and enjoy it. It's just that Sega had better hardwares and games overall.

[@filipesantos9692]

amigas good but soundwise fuck that this is CD quality who gives a fuck

[@yukatoshi]

Parallax Craze The PC Engine can only fake parallax. Only the SuperGrafx could do true parallax.

[@kevinfishburne]

I owned this. Also liked Exile for PCECD. Ys III was good but it didn't scroll smoothly like the SNES port. Ys IV was the best, and Bomberman on the included CD with the Duo. Gate of Thunder and a Bonk game were on the same CD. Ys Book I & II were a separate CD. Dracula X is long lost, but still loved. I also had the Macross shoot'em up with the good OST, lost as well. Flash Hiders was fun with another person and crazy long cutscenes. Had one called Brandish/burandishu I imported that was odd; more roguelike. Wish it had kicked more ass in the US.

[@gabrielloko30000]

This game plays MUCH better than the amiga, DMA design made a good job on tweaking this game for the PC engine...and the music...The Demo Music is so damn good to hear time to time

[@collinphizacklea5322]

Looks good and great soundtrack

[@krumecadyk1911]

Existe algun lugar para comprarlo o descargarlo?

[@miltonsilva6371]

AND the PC Engine (my favorive console)

[@taylanyasa8480]

Such an amazing Game.

[@wibblewobble1934]

Amiga version was vastly better, especially with the music. Music in this sounds has turned those classic themes into elevator music style... UGH!

[@badtrip858]

Does anybody know where and how to download it?

[@Gigas0101]

Was that cinematic in the Amiga version? I've never seen it before!

[@IdentityCrisis1581]

All the versions of this game were good. My only complaint is that they were all really short. Once you knew what to do they could all be beat in around 30 minutes. Learning where all the items was the only thing that padded the gameplay out. But once you knew where they were the game didn't feel like a whole game because it was too short. These games has such good visuals and music for the time though that you would play them over and over just to look at the backgrounds and listen to the music. I love watching the jump kick animation on this version. It's so funny to see. It's not so much a kick but he just kind of lays back and sticks his foot out in mid air. It looks like the beast is laying back in an invisible airborne recliner. There is a cheat which let's you float your beast around and clip through anything you want while it is paused. That is really the only way to see the full graphics of the bosses. The last one is more than just a big gnarly toe. It's actually a whole foot but there is no way to see that without using the clipping cheat. Same with the other bosses. There's a lot of the graphics you can't see.

[@oblivieon1567]

Many games from this era were short. It was more about the journey to beat them. Like Mike Tyson's Punchout isn't long, neither are the numerous Shmups. But without internet and only the occasional magazine you would find your way to the end by trial and error. We would map RPG dungeons on graph paper and share them. Another World is the other artistic masterpiece, short for sure but brutal in difficulty back then. So you'd play it over and over again until you figured it out.

[@TurboXray]

It's got nice graphics, but the original game is just horrible as a game itself. Nothing really more than a tech demo in the guise of the game. At least this version attempts to give back to the gameplay.. but even then.

[@filipesantos9692]

fucking awesome port and the best OST ever!

[@mordavian]

Music is a bit different than amiga version. Banding on the sky. Amiga was ahead of its time.

[@Cimone90]

Wooooooow the Amiga one looks and sounds so much better.

[@SipherX05]

What the Amiga's floppy disc quality sound is better than the CD quality sound from this version? Lol no. Plus the main character in this version is so better animated. Not to mention this version is easier and not as bullshit as the Amiga version.

[@retropaganda8442]

​@@SipherX05damn pc engine fanboy

[@iestyndavies7287]

This was a PC Engine CD game I assume.

[@TurboXray]

Why would you need to assume?

[@Eliminaattori]

Nice style in graphics and some cool sounds. But Amiga was superior in this. Dark atmosphere, excellent sounds and awesome music, hard but still playable. Only ending and little animations during load times are better. Getting health up to 25 and chance to punch-spam like that makes this ridiculously easy. Only hard part is finding the route and all items.

[@itsnotme3882]

I would have preferred to remain as a dragon. Being human sucks

[@rafaelarte8382]

The best version of the beast in my opinion... amazing sound..

[@darkfocust2467]

sega version had better music for sure tho

[@BalczoLev]

The best version is the idea, so the first one on Amiga. Beast IS Amiga

[@baldpipesmoker1]

I think this version of the game has the best soundtrack.

[@FarnhamTheDrunk1]

no

[@Miguel-yu3we]

Too short game!!

[@theeggqueen]

Punch a toenail, win the game

[@inceptional]

Christ, it took 10 mins just to start the actual game. lol

[@augustosantos5690]

unhapilly not has bosses music ... good gameplay

[@andresberger6240]

This has super graphics but the c64 version is much, much better.

[@retropaganda8442]

lol, c64 predates the amiga

[@yiorgo187]

This is not the pc engine version but the turbografx version.

[@TheFieryWind99]

Yiorgo S PC Engine is the Japanese name of Turbografx.

[@ilmarinen79]

Wth did they do to the gorgeous music??? Lol

[@MetatroN197924]

i love the amiga version,i will never forget the nights that spend in the past with my amiga,but this version have the better music in comparison to amiga vanila version

[@JacquesMartini]

A good interpretation of the original, but I like the amiga original more. Sorry.

[@fungo6631]

Developed by the makers of GTA

[@autodidacticprofessor869]

Such a cool and gorgeous game for the time but the way the enemies to fall off the screen is really stupid. BTW, this was a PC Engine CD game.... there's no way that crappy sound chip used for the HuCard games could sound like this. :)

[@TurboXray]

Crappy sound chip??? You've gone full retard ahaha

[@alessandromarani6523]

This port is not good. The main sprite has double the frames of the original but totally lost his appeal and badassness. Colors choice, framing, animations..Everything's wrong here. My choice is: Amiga first, then Genesis. And the Lynx version is adorable.

[@KillThad]

You're forgetting about control and level design, which is where this version excels. This is the nicest playing and most balanced version of the game, even if the visuals took a small hit (they still look superb, so it hardly matters).

[@Cimone90]

@@KillThad yea the Amiga version is a shit show of awful hit detection and idiotic difficulty. But shadow of the beast 3 is in my opinion completely polished and plays super well on Amiga.

[@TurboXray]

Amiga fanbois are the worse, I swear hahah

[@retropaganda8442]

​@@TurboXrayit's always a pleasure to boast about our superiority 😂

[@retropaganda8442]

What an ugly version compared to the older Amiga!